Don’t forget about Darfur

Petty Officer Third Class Eddie Beaver believes that the The United States can and should step in and lead the fight against genocide in the Sudan.

NEARLY 60 YEARS AGO, Allied soldiers liberated Nazi concentration camps throughout Europe, bringing an end to the nightmarish Nazi system that utilized factories of mass death to eliminate enemies and despised ethnic and religious groups. The pledge “never again” was heard then, and various agreements were solemnly made by leaders to ensure genocide never occurred again.

Over the decades, much has happened to cheapen the lofty rhetoric of the victorious World War II leaders. Genocide or something close to it has happened in the Congo, Burundi, Uganda, East Timor, Cambodia, Iraq, Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo, and most recently the Darfur region of Sudan. In all but Kosovo, the international community ignored the horror of mass murder. The few interventions were thrown together haphazardly with peacekeepers whose hands were tied by weak-willed mandates that did more to aid the perpetrators of slaughter than the victims.

Darfur was supposed to be different. It came in the wake of successes by leading nations who intervened to halt conflict and potential mass murder in Kosovo, East Timor, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. President Bush had achieved more towards peace in Sudan than any previous leader. The United Nations, troubled over failures in the past, seemed eager to apply the painful lessons learned, and committed to true reform. The African Union appeared ready to accept the challenge of ending war on its territory, and the European Union claimed it was ready to support admirable goals like ending the slaughter in Darfur.

All have failed miserably

With astounding speed and with a staggering outpouring of money the world has responded to the tsunami of Asia and yet there has still been such an impotent response to the suffering of those in Darfur.

In the end, it is understandable why America did not intervene to halt genocide and mass murder in much of the world for the past 60 years. Until George W. Bush’s presidency, America was either handicapped by Cold War reality or misled by politicians who mistrusted and misused the military. This is not so today. A president of honor and vision sits in the White House, emboldened by the threat of terrorism and fascism to defend America and her ideals. A fascist, terrorist supporting regime is exterminating its citizens by the tens of thousands. Why then, under the most fervent advocate of freedom and peace since Ronald Reagan, is America not justly using its mighty military force to stop them?

If my country can join with others to form an aid coalition why can’t we find that same cooperation and put an end to the genocide in Darfur?